Plympton Selectmen Tackle Tattered Flags, Hear of Police Grant Wins

Board weighs options for flag replacement as police chief reports on new equipment and programs

PLYMPTON, MA - July 22 - The Plympton Board of Selectmen grappled with a patriotic predicament at their July 22 meeting, discussing how to address the town's tattered flags while balancing budget concerns and community desires.

"There's five in disrepair between my house and here," said resident Rick Burnett, who brought the issue to the board's attention. "They need to be fixed. They need to be repaired."

Board members acknowledged the problem, with Chairman Traynor noting one flag was "torn to shreds" and another "hanging by a thread." The town currently maintains about 15 flags along its main thoroughfare, at an estimated cost of $50 per flag kit.

"I'd rather see them flying," Traynor said, though he agreed some action was needed. The Board discussed several options, including reducing the number of flags to around 10, exploring a banner system instead of traditional flags, and potentially bringing the issue to Town Meeting for dedicated funding.

"What if we had a Town Meeting article and let the citizens decide whether they want to be formally funded by article every year?" suggested Selectman Russo.

In the short term, the board directed the Department of Public Works to take down damaged flags and those beyond the cemetery. They plan to revisit the issue in 6-8 weeks after gathering more information on costs and alternatives.

The flag discussion came amid a wide-ranging meeting that also featured updates from Police Chief Matt Ahl on recent grant successes and new programs.

Ahl reported his department had secured a $280,000 grant to acquire two Bearcats – armored vehicles – for the regional SWAT team. The department also obtained an ATV through a regional law enforcement council for conducting searches and patrols in remote areas.

"Now we can actually have an ATV that can go over power lines, do some police general search areas," Ahl explained. "If we have long retreat lots, someone may have mentioned earlier, or somebody that's lost out on the power lines, or things that we have any activities that we have to kind of mitigate out on the power line, or far out in the woods, we now have an ATV that's going to be afforded to us."

The chief also highlighted the department's participation in a new multi-town mental health clinician program, which will be run by the Kingston Police Department. The program aims to provide trained clinicians to assist on calls involving mental health issues, domestic disputes, or situations with children.

"We can actually send a clinician out, and there's reciprocity between each one of our departments," Ahl said. "So if we own the clinician one day, and that male or female is working at our department, we have a place for them to work out of. If Halifax calls and they need that clinician, then we bring them over to Halifax, or we meet them at the town line, and they take them to whatever call that they need."

Ahl noted the program should help "mitigate" challenging situations and provide a "buffer between us and community on some of the worst calls that we go to."

The police department is also gearing up for its third annual National Night Out event on August 16, featuring food, demonstrations, and participation from various town departments.